Well. Raise your hands if you didn't see this one coming. Nobody is safe from Apple's and Microsoft's legal crusade against Android, not even Samsung, which supplies a lot of chips to Apple. Apple has sued Samsung for copying Cupertino's look and feel in various Samsung devices. This is about as surprising as the tides rolling in. Update: And Samsung's going to strike back. Hit 'm hard, Samsung. I don't like you anymore than any of these other patent trolls, but maybe we'll finally see it all crash and burn.

If I create a new car, Mercedes shouldn't be able to sue me, but if I create a new car that looks like their SLK, then I think they do have the right to protect that (even if it doesn't drive like one).

Are you sure it's actually illegal? Is this covered by design patent law?

I seem to recall there are commercial kits out there to re-create fancy cars (like a Ferrari on a Fiero chassis for example) - and somehow I doubt they're getting permission from the original car manufacturer to create these kits.

Not only that, have you ever looked at any cars made by Hyundai? They tend to "borrow" design cues from their biggest competitors to the point that on some recent models, you have to squint to make sure it's a lazy "H" symbol as opposed to Honda's vertical "H". Swap the insignias and you'd be hard pressed to tell the two cars apart on first inspection. In the past it was Toyota-inspired styles, and Nissan before that.